Heating costs may restrict CHA tenants

November 10, 2005|By Antonio Olivo, Tribune staff reporter.

A nearly twofold increase in heating costs since last winter could complicate Chicago Housing Authority efforts to move public housing tenants into new mixed-income developments, officials warned Wednesday.

With a clean credit history among requirements for those moving into the new homes built in place of its demolished high-rises, the CHA has been assisting many public housing tenants whose unpaid utility bills could keep them from moving into the new units.

That caseload could grow amid a spike in natural gas prices caused by the war in Iraq and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, agency officials said. The agency announced on Wednesday that the cost of keeping CHA tenants warm in 2006 could nearly double to $35 million.

"That's mind boggling," said board member Martin Nesbitt during a committee meeting.

After increasing routine utility allowances by an average of 63 percent last month, the CHA is seeking to persuade tenants to conserve energy this winter.

Among other things, the agency is publicizing a series of city-sponsored "home heating fairs," scheduled through next Tuesday, where conservation tips and advice on how to take advantage of government heating subsidies will be available.

But, part of the CHA's challenge will be to hammer home the potential severity of escalating heating costs to its tenants.

"I don't think they're paying a whole lot of attention to this," said Earnest Gates, a CHA board member. "Before a crisis hits, we need to see some kind of plan in place" to make tenants understand how rising fuel costs could affect them.

An unpaid utility bill could prevent a CHA family from moving into one of the new mixed-income developments, said Meghan Harte, the agency's director of resident services.

"One of the move-in criteria is a clean credit record," she said.

After an independent auditor alerted the agency in 2002 that many families owed utility companies several thousand dollars, agency caseworkers have been visiting those who have moved out of demolished high-rises to see who has had problems keeping up with their bills, she said.

Since September, the agency has helped 1,100 families secure additional government subsidies.

The CHA has also reserved $200,000 for a new program to assist families with extreme cases, Harte said.

"Another way we're focusing on that concern is to help people get out of the cycle of relying on subsidies" by training them to become more self-sufficient, Harte said.